“Good girl.” Alaric smiled, fighting to maintain the calm he showed on the exterior with the anxiety eating at his bond. He didn’t like to be separated either. He wanted his little birds where he could keep an eye on them. “I’ll see you in a few days. Slade’s got a surprise for you on the way back.”
Mention of a surprise had her perking up, her face transforming from miserable to eager in the space of a heartbeat.
The grip on my chest eased as she shouldered her way through her daddies to Slade’s bike. “What’s the surprise?”
Slade bounced her into his arms. “If I told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”
She grumbled and messed up his hair, earning a chuckle as he lowered her.
“Go on. Inside before I change my mind,” Slade ordered her.
Alaric steered Mia to Castor for a quick hug, then redirected her to the gate of her grandmother’s palatial fucking estate by the beach.
Castor moved behind them, a silent shadow, ordered to remain on guard outside the gates of Aaliyah’s mother’s property while Mia and our mate had lunch.
“Scouting only.” Aaliyah pointed two pronged fingers at her eyes, flicking them to me, then to Alaric, and finally to Slade.
The president chuckled and leaned on his gas tank. “I’m not making any promises, sugar. If I get a chance to end this, I’ll take it.”
Behaving and doing as he was told weren’t in his vocabulary unless the order came directly from his god. Set and Slade were born to defy rules, even those dictated by their wives. The instant he sniffed out Raine, frogs would fall from the sky, locusts would blind the horizon, fire would consume everything in sight, and floods wipe out anything that escaped.
Aaliyah sidled up to Slade’s front. “Bean bags.” Code for being clean in front of Mia or getting her out of hearing distance.
Alaric covered Mia’s ears and pretended to mess around.
Aaliyah’s fingers slowly curled around Slade’s cut, yanking him closer, flipping it on him and doing that sexy bossy thing I loved. “If any of my men come back with a scratch, I’m holding you and Raine responsible.”
Slade’s fists reached out and upturned, offering himself up to be cuffed. “Tie me up. Whip me. Punish me, Nurse A.”
She hit his arm. “Bean bags.” Her gaze coasted to Mia as she jammed the button on the gate and started babbling to her grandmother to let her in before she picked up the security line.
“Don’t worry, Nurse A.” Slade swept her off the ground and onto his lap, rocking his bike. “There’ll be no maiming or gutting without you.” She winced at that. “My little, dark goddess.”
He didn’t stop praising her for casting the trafficked women’s demons into the dirty cops. Fucking brilliant move. Saved our asses. Without her, I would be in the slammer, prey to junkies and goons paid off by the cops and their buddies, shanked to death and not standing here today. We owed her our freedom and lives. I gladly handed her my balls as payment.
What I loved even more was how she found a way around killing to deal with our enemies. Aaliyah wanted to heal, not take lives, but Castor and I encouraged her to reach into her dark goddess aspect and deliver reckoning to those who deserved it. Dark was kinda sexy on her.
“Stop it.” She chuckled, her cheeks glowing rosy against her tanned skin. “I hate it when you talk like that.”
“I won’t kill Colton Raine until I let you fuck him up a little first.” Slade cuddled her tighter. “Let him have it, Nurse A. Cunt deserves it.”
“You’re a bad influence, Mr. Vincent.” Sparks exploded on the bond, crackling as they hit it, deepening their kiss. “Come back alive and in one piece or I’ll fuck you up.”
“I love it when you talk dirty.” Slade grinned, promising her all the wickedness of his god when we returned from our surveillance trip.
“See you at five.” Aaliyah slid off his bike and jumped into my arms for another quick kiss.
Fuck me. Her perfume hit me, and I wrangled my hellhound back in its place. Every hour, the scent intensified, and it got harder to fight it.
Aaliyah kissed the tip of my nose. “Make him behave.”
I chuckled. “Very funny, Hellhound Bitch. He doesn’t behave for anyone.” I paddled her ass and released her to Alaric and Castor.
“I’ll see if I can sneak you inside, Daddy.” Aaliyah winked and hugged Castor. “Get you some afternoon tea and meet the mother-in-law.”
“I’ll charm her pants off.” Castor gave her his dark smirk.
Aaliyah snorted and shifted onto Alaric.
